Men’s soccer drops double OT game to Falcons

“The guys played hard, I have no issue with the effort tonight,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi.

“Bowling Green is a pretty good team, but they were only going to score in one manner and its disappointing that is the way they ended up scoring. We knew the only way they were going to score was a hopeful ball forward and their No. 11 (Grant), a strong kid, made the play.”

NIU (3-9-0, 0-2-0 MAC) had its first chance of the night in the 17th minute as junior Isaac Kannah(Plymouth, Minn./Prairie Seeds Academy) fired a shot wide.

Kannah had another chance in the 36th minute that forced a save from Bowling Green goalkeeper Michael Wiest and the game went into the half scoreless.

After the intermission, Bowling Green (3-5-4, 2-1-0 MAC) had the first good chance, earning a penalty kick in the 48th minute. Grant took the shot from the dot, but his chance went wide and the game remained scoreless.

The Huskies had a chance to break the deadlock in the 60th minute. Junior Jayson LeSeth (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) had the chance for NIU, but his shot hit the post and the game remained tied. LeSeth’s effort hit the inside of the post and came back across the goal line did not cross the line.

Sean Totsch

Senior Sean Totsch (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) had a shot in the 65th minute, but his effort went wide and the game went into overtime scoreless.

Early in the first overtime Kannah and junior Andrew Palumbo (Ft. Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot/Darton College) each had a chance, but both efforts were blocked by the Falcon defense.

Less than two minutes into the second extra session Bowling Green finally netted the winner. Sean Sikich played a long ball Grant who moved past redshirt sophomore Andrew Glaeser (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla/Oregon State) and slid the ball into the back of the net to give the home side the victory.

“There is only one thing we can do,” Luzzi said. “That is get back to work on Monday. We have and extended break, which is good, it will give us a chance to work on some things and rest the guys. Then we hope to get back on track as we play our first home night game a week from Tuesday.”

The Huskies will return to action Tuesday, Oct. 22, when they host Eastern Illinois at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex. Game time against the Panthers is scheduled for 7 p.m.